The instant invention relates to mounting structures for mounting pivotable members on base structures, including housings, and more particularly to a pivot assembly comprising a pivot arm and a mounting assembly which is adapted to enable the pivot arm to be more easily and efficiently assembled therewith for pivotably mounting it on a base member, such as a housing.
Heretofore, the most common technique for pivotably mounting a pivot arm on a housing so that the requisite mounting structure is concealed within the housing has been to mount the pivot arm on a pair of spaced, substantially parallel mounting walls which extend inwardly in the housing adjacent opposite side extremities of an opening therein. More specifically, the most common heretofore known mounting technique has been to assemble a pivot shaft on the pivot arm in aligned apertures in the mounting walls so that the shaft is permanently captured in rotatable relation in the apertures and so that the pivot arm extends outwardly through the opening in the housing. However, in order to mount a pivot arm in this manner, the mounting walls must be resiliently separated in order to assemble the pivot shaft in the apertures therein. Since the mounting walls of a structure of this type normally extend inwardly from the housing wall, they generally cannot be separated except at their innermost terminal end portions. Accordingly, heretofore it has generally been necessary to assemble a pivot arm in a mounting structure of this type by passing the pivot arm outwardly through an opening in the housing and then separating the inner end portions of the mounting walls in the interior of the housing as the shaft on the pivot arm is moved upwardly therebetween.
As an alternative to the above, another type of prior art mounting assembly includes a pair of U-shaped mounting walls which depend from the inner side of a housing wall adjacent opposite sides of a pivot opening therein. This type of mounting assembly also includes a pair of converging resilient retainer tabs which depend from the inner side of the housing wall so that each tab extends between the legs of a U-shaped mounting wall for retaining a pivot shaft attached to a pivot member in engagement in the U-shaped mounting walls. However, it has been found that the retainer tabs of this type of structure are necessarily relatively short so that they generally lack sufficient resilience to receive a pivot shaft therebetween and are, as a result, prone to breakage.
The instant invention provides an effective mounting structure for mounting a pivot member on a base member, such as a housing or another base structure, and, in its broadest form, the instant invention comprises a base member including a mounting portion and a pivot member also including a mounting portion. The mounting portion of the base member includes oppositely facing arcuate, concentric, radially spaced, concave pivot and convex retaining faces thereon, and the mounting portion of the pivot member includes oppositely facing, arcuate, concentric, radially spaced, convex pivot and concave retaining faces thereon which are received in mating engagement with the concave pivot and convex retaining faces on the base member. Accordingly, the retaining faces on the base member and the pivot member cooperate to retain the pivot faces on the base member and the pivot member in mating engagement so that the pivot member is pivotable about a predetermined pivot axis. The pivot faces and the retaining faces of the pivot member and the base member are preferably disposed within a common 180 degree sector about the pivot axis, and the base member preferably comprises a housing having a pivot opening therein. The base member preferably extends inwardly in the housing adjacent the pivot opening, and accordingly the mounting portion of the pivot member is also located in the housing. Further, the pivot member preferably includes a pivot arm which extends outwardly through the pivot opening.
Accordingly, the instant invention also provides an effective mounting structure which enables a pivot arm to be assembled with a housing by passing the pivot arm inwardly rather than outwardly through a pivot opening in the housing. More specifically, a first embodiment of the instant invention provides a pivot assembly comprising a pivot arm having a pivot shaft thereon and a mounting structure comprising a pair of mounting walls having notches therein which open outwardly through the pivot opening so that the pivot shaft can be assembled in the notches by passing the shaft and the adjacent portions of the pivot arm inwardly through the pivot opening. Still more specifically, the first embodiment of the pivot assembly of the instant invention comprises a housing including an outer wall having a pivot opening therein, and a pair of spaced substantially parallel mounting walls extending inwardly in the housing adjacent spaced opposite side extremities of the pivot opening. The mounting walls have substantially parallel notches therein which define a pivot seat in the housing and which open outwardly through the pivot opening, and the assembly further comprises a pivot arm including an elongated arm portion and a substantially transversely extending pivot shaft portion having a pivot axis. The pivot shaft portion is received in the notches in the mounting walls for pivotably mounting the pivot arm on the housing. In this embodiment the assembly further includes a first retaining member in the housing which is preferably located on one of the spaced mounting walls and a second retaining member on the pivot member in outwardly spaced relation to the shaft portion thereof. The first retaining member on the mounting walls and the second retaining member on the pivot member are positioned so that the second retaining member is disposed further inwardly in the housing relative to the first retaining member, and so that the second retaining member rides on the first retaining member as the pivot member is pivoted in the pivot opening. Further, in the first embodiment the retaining members are preferably constructed and oriented so that when the pivot member is pivoted to an extreme position, the second retaining member is disengaged from the first retaining member to permit the pivot shaft to be removed from the notches in the mounting walls by passing it outwardly through the pivot opening. In this embodiment, the pivot assembly preferably includes a first retaining member on each of the mounting walls, and the first retaining members preferably extend inwardly and together terminating in spaced relation. The first retaining members are preferably formed as arcuate ridges on the mounting walls which are coaxially oriented relative to the pivot axis, and the second retaining member preferably comprises an arcuate guide wall segment which is coaxially oriented relative to the pivot axis and rides on the ridges on the mounting walls as the pivot member is pivoted.
It has been found that the pivot assembly of the first embodiment of the instant invention has specific advantages over the heretofore available pivot assemblies. Specifically, because the pivot shaft on the pivot member is received in outwardly opening notches in a pair of mounting walls, the entire pivot member can be assembled with the mounting walls by inserting the requisite portions of the pivot member, including the pivot shaft, inwardly through the pivot opening so that the shaft is received in the notches, and by then pivoting the pivot member to a position in which the retaining members cooperate to retain the pivot shaft in rotatable engagement in the notches. Accordingly, the first embodiment of the pivot assembly is adapted to permit the pivot member to be efficiently and easily assembled with the housing so that the pivot member is effectively pivotably retained in the housing, but so that it is nevertheless removable therefrom.
In a second embodiment of the instant invention, the pivot assembly comprises a base member having a base member mounting portion thereon and a pivot member having a pivot member mounting portion thereon which is received in engagement with the base member mounting portion. In this embodiment the base member mounting portion includes a mounting seat having an arcuate concave pivot face thereon and a pair of retaining elements on opposite sides of the mounting seat. The retaining elements have arcuate convex retaining faces thereon which are concentric with the pivot face of the mounting seat but which are radially spaced therefrom and face in the opposite direction. The pivot member mounting portion includes an arcuate pivot element having an arcuate convex pivot face on one side thereof which is received in mating engagement with the pivot face on the mounting seat. In this embodiment, the pivot element preferably also includes an arcuate concave retaining face on the opposite side thereof which is received in mating engagement with the retaining faces of the retaining elements for retaining the pivot element in the pivot seat.
It has been found that the second embodiment of the pivot assembly of the instant invention also represents a significant improvement over the previously known pivotal mounting structures. Specifically, it provides an easy to assemble mounting structure which provides sufficient clearance to enable a pivot member to be freely pivoted without interference from the mounting structure.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the instant invention to provide an effective pivot assembly comprising a housing and a pivot member wherein the pivot member can be effectively pivotably assembled with a mounting structure in the housing by passing a pivot shaft on the pivot member inwardly through a pivot opening in the housing.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide a pivot assembly comprising a housing and a pivot member wherein the pivot member is adapted to be quickly and efficiently assembled in a pivot structure in the housing.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.